The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

The SUM of HUMAN LIBERTY.

By Soame Jenyns, Esquire.

That all men are born free, is so far from being true, that the first infringement of this liberty is being born at all; which is imposed upon them without their consent, given either by themselves or their representatives: and it may easily be shown, that man, by the constitution of his nature, never subsists a free and independent being, from the first to the last moment of his residence on this terrestrial globe; where, during the first nine months of his existence, he is confined in a dark and sultry prison, debarred from light and air; 'till at length, by an habeas corpus, brought by the hand of some kind deliverer, he is set at liberty: but what kind of liberty does he then enjoy? He is bound hand and foot, and fed upon bread and water for a long period; no sooner is he unbound than he makes so bad a use of his liberty, that it becomes necessary that he should be placed in a state of the severest discipline. First under a nurse, and then under a school master, both equal tyrants in their several departments, by whom he is again confined without law, condemned without a jury, and whipped without mercy! In this state of slavery he continues many years, and at the expiration of it, he is obliged to commence an involuntary subject of some civil government. To whose authority he must submit, however ingeniously he may dispute her right, or be justly hanged for disobedience to her laws. And this is the Sum of human Liberty.